Kings suspend Cousins

The Sacramento Kings on Saturday suspended center DeMarcus Cousins - for an indefinite period - for what the club called "unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team."

No details were released.

Cousins and Kings coach Keith Smart exchanged words in the locker room during halftime of Friday night's 97-85 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Smart benched Cousins for the entire second half and ordered him to remain in the locker room.

"We're trying to set a standard here, and when guys move below that standard, things are going to take place," Smart said after the game. "We'll just move on to the next game, and I'll make some decisions from there."

Cousins, the No. 5 overall draft pick taken by the Kings in 2010, took responsibility for the incident after the game.

"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But I was wrong. I was wrong," he said. "I'm a player that definitely wants to win every night, and I'm an emotional player. That's never going to change. But I shouldn't have responded back."

He is averaging a team-high 16.6 points and 9.5 rebounds to go with 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Every Atlanta starter scored in double figures as the host Hawks routed the Chicago Bulls, 92-75, Saturday night to snap a two-game losing streak.

Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Lou Williams added 16 points.

Elsewhere: The Pistons got their second win in as many nights over the Wizards, 96-87 in Washington. It was only the second time this season that Detroit had consecutive victories. The Wizards, meanwhile, lost their seventh straight and dropped to an NBA-worst 3-22. . . . Miami's LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points in the Heat's 105-89 pounding of the visiting Utah Jazz.

- Inquirer wire services